1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device socket capable of detachably housing a semiconductor device therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices to be mounted in electronic equipments are subjected to various tests before being mounted therein, in order to remove latent defects of the devices. The tests are carried out with a semiconductor device being mounted in a semiconductor device socket, for example.
Such a semiconductor device socket used for the tests is generally called an integrated circuit (IC) socket and is arranged on a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board is provided with an input-output portion configured to be supplied with a predetermined test voltage and configured to transmit an anomaly detection signal from the semiconductor device as an object to be tested, the anomaly detection signal representing a short circuit.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2,822,850, for example, such an IC socket includes: a socket body having a housing section for detachably housing a semiconductor device; multiple contact pins arranged inside the housing section of the socket body and configured to electrically connect respective electrodes of the semiconductor device to electrode sections of the printed circuit board; a main cover rotational movably supported by the socket body and configured to support a press cover and a lever cover to be described below; the press cover having one end movably supported by the main cover and being configured to selectively press the electrodes of the semiconductor device toward respective contact sections of the contact pins; and the lever cover having one end rotational movably supported by the main cover and being configured to press the press cover toward the semiconductor device.
In this configuration, when the semiconductor device is fitted to the housing section of the socket body, the semiconductor device is placed, above the contact pins, in the housing section of the socket body. Then, the main cover is firstly rotated together with the press cover and the lever cover, and is subsequently fixed with respect to the socket body by use of a main cover stopper of the main cover. Next, the lever cover is operated to fix a lever cover stopper thereof with respect to the socket body. This operation moves the press cover downward and thereby causes the press cover to press the electrodes of the semiconductor device to the contact sections of the contact pins against an elastic force of the contact pins. At that time, on the basis of the principle of leverage, an operating force for operating the lever cover should be smaller than a force for pressing the press cover. Therefore, the lever cover can be operated with a smaller force than that needed to press the press cover.
On the other hand, when the semiconductor device is detached from the socket body, the lever cover stopper and the main cover stopper are firstly shifted one by one from a locked state to an unlocked state. Then, the main cover is rotated back to the initial standby position together with the press cover and the lever cover, and then the semiconductor device is detached from the socket body.